Ain't This Life So Sweet?
by gilmorelove22
Summary: Luke & Lorelai alone in the Diner. No interruptions. What will Luke do about it? THIS STORY IS COMPLETED
1. Those Diner Painting Days

**Author's Note:** This story takes place during 'That Damn Donna Reed' from the first season when Luke & Lorelai are in the Diner deciding on paint. I changed the scene and just took it from there.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of these characters. All of the credit goes to Amy Sherman-Palladino & the WB.

This is my first fanfiction so review and tell me if I should continue.

"Luke?" Lorelai shouted as she stumbled into the diner after having some trouble with the lock. She never did like it when Luke locked his door while expecting her. It forced her to fumble through her tightly packed purse for her trusty bobby pin, the one that lit up. "Oh Luke! Luuccassss!"

"Hey" Luke said to Lorelai with a familiarly warm smile on his face as he bounced down the stairs into the diner, "I was disappointed that you didn't pull out the 'Stellaaa!' bit like you always do when you're being ignored."

"Hey there mister, we may be in a public place but it's 7:00 at night. Small town people are asleep at 7:00 at night. So don't go insulting my attention-getting techniques or I may be able to finally put to use what I picked up from watching The Karate Kid over and over four hundred times."

"You like that movie?"

"No questions! We've got some decision making to do."

Lorelai walked over to Luke's ancient radio and turned it on. The song "This Year's Love" by David Gray started to play.

_"Won't ya kiss me on that midnight street_

_Sweep me off my feet_

_Singing, ain't this life so sweet?"_

Luke watched as Lorelai glided between the tables to the soft music. The way her curls brushed back and forth over her face drove him absolutely crazy. Why on Earth did he accept her offer to help him pick out paint colors? He knew very well that when he was all alone with her, he couldn't help but practically stare and drool. When it was them and Rory, sure he could take it, but not just him and Lorelai.. all alone. He could tell that this was going to be a long night.

"So," Lorelai began playfully, "I was thinking purple walls, light pink trim, and some frilly ivory curtains. To me it just screams, 'This is a place of testosterone!'"

"You're funny. Did anyone ever tell you that?"

"I have my days."

"Okay, serious time buddy," Lorelai said with a stern yet goofy look on her face, "I brought a bunch of paint chips so let's sit and you can pick out what you like."

"Uhmm.. what about blue?" Luke said, hoping for her approval.

"Blue, hm, yeah I like blue. As long as it's not this," Lorelai said gesturing to the wall with a disgusted look on her face.

"Promise," Luke said softly, that familiar smile returning to his face.

Lorelai had always liked Luke's smile. She thought it to be the nicest one she'd ever seen.

Luke noticed that there was a brief minute of silence that grew awkward and uncomfortable by the minute. _Oh no_, he thought to himself _I'm staring at her again_! He tried to break the silence by picking up the paint chips, only to knock over the salt and pepper shakers that he'd just filled, causing them to shatter all over the freshly waxed floor. "Damn it!"

"It's okay, I'll help you clean it up. Go get a broom and I'll get the trash can. Be careful."

_Be careful_. Those words rung in his ears. Anytime she said something slighty caring, the words stuck with him until the next ones came.

Luke returned with a broom and rubber gloves. "I only have one pair, you put them on, I don't want you to cut yourself."

For some reason, that made Lorelai smile on the inside._He cares,_ she thought. She liked that he cared. With most people, she couldn't give a damn, but not with Luke.

"I need to stop being such a klutz."

Lorelai suddenly broke out into laughter and tried to hide her giggles under her breath.

"I'm sorry, you find my clumsyness amusing?" Luke asked smiling.

"Uhm, no."

"Then why are you laughing?"

"Because when you sat down I caught a glimpse of your Jimmy Buffett boxers. Buffetthead!"

"I am not a buffet head."

"Okay, then how do you explain the boxers?" Lorelai said, trying to control herself.

"Rachel bought them for me... a while ago." Luke replied, suddenly looking lost in thoughts of his once-girlfriend.

"Ohh... I didn't know. I'm.. I'm sorr-"

"Don't worry, you couldn't have known. Unless of course you have some weird infatuation with the history behind the man who cooks your meal's underwear."

"Well, don't underestimate Lorelai Gilmore."

"I won't," Luke said. He could start to feel his face getting flushed.

"You know," Lorelai started, "You're more than that."

"More than what?"

"More than the guy that cooks my meals. I hope you don't think that's all I think of you as." Lorelai was taken back by what she'd just said. She'd always wanted Luke to know how much he meant to her, but she could never quite find the words. Evidentally, though, she'd found them. Unfortunatetly, she wasn't quite sure if she should have said them. But they just came out, like word vomit. Luke looked pretty taken back by it himself. His eyes sort of widened and that's what made Lorelai think she shouldn't have said anything.

"Well I guess not," Luke said, still sounding kind of surprised. The thing was, he wasn't that surprised. Deep down he always knew that Lorelai held him close to her heart, or atleast somewhere in the vicinity of it. He just never thought that she'd actually tell him._ This is your chance_, he thought, _This is your chance to get the girl_. But how could he possibly? He'd already broken two things and made a horrible mess that was going to take forever to clean up.

"Well that's good. I'm glad that you know." Lorelai said, looking up from the spot that she was scrubbing the floor. Luke had never seen anything so beautiful before.


	2. Those Diner Painting Nights

Sure, Lorelai did mean what she said to Luke, but in what way? In the friendly way, right? It started to frustrate her, and she took her frustration out on the now seasoned diner floor.

"Hey, hey!", Luke shouted, "You're going to scrub a hole right through my floor!"

"What? Oh..sorry, it's just.. really.. dirty." _Okay Lorelai Gilmore hold yourself together. You can't turn into a stammering freak just because you're a little bit confused. _But what she really wanted to know was why did she have to extend an invitation to help Luke out tonight. She knew that whenever they were alone things were always a little bit awkward. Not that they lacked conversation material, but.. it was just.. weird. _Maybe that's because you have feelings for the man. _She was surprised at her own thoughts. _No! I couldn't possibly! It's Luke. My Luke. The guy I see everyday._ But she had said that he meant more to her. Why couldn't she just had been quiet?

"You okay?" The sound of Luke's voice startled her, causing her to jump back.

"Uh yeah, I am.. um.. I just need to use the bathroom. Can I go up and use yours?"

"Knock yourself out." Luke watched closely as she rushed up the stairs. Once she was out of sight, he started a nervous pace. "Okay Luke, pull yourself together." He said outloud. " She's just a girl, it's just Lorelai." But no matter how many times he tried to tell himself that she was just another girl, he couldn't seem to convince himself. That's because Luke knew it wasn't true. Lorelai wasn't just a girl. She was Lorelai Gilmore. The woman that he'd loved for so many years. Yes, he'd loved Rachel a great deal, but once he met Lorelai he knew that what he'd felt for Rachel would never surpass his feelings for that wonderful, amazing, beautiful Lorelai Gilmore.

"Okay man, what are you doing here?" Luke continued talking himself through his sticky situation," The woman of your dreams is here with you, alone. The door is locked, nobody can walk in and interrupt whatever it is you may be able to get going. So why don't you put yourself into gear and-"

"Who are you talking to?" Luke's ranting was interrupted by the sweet sound of Lorelai's voice. She appeared behind the counter with a confused look on her face. "You were talking kind of loud there Luke, who were you talking to?"

Luke panicked, he had no idea what he was going to say. He racked his brain and used the first excuse he could think of. "Oh I was uh.. uhmm I was just singing."

Lorelai tried to hide her laughter, but once again failed. "If that's your singing voice, you've got pretty big problems my friend."

They both noticed the tension in the room. It was unbearable for the both of them.

_Say something, you idiot! _/ Lorelai thought to herself, _Order coffee! That will be sure to break the ice._

_Say something to her, you idiot! Oh! Ask her if she wants some coffee.. that'll work. _

"How about some coffee?" They both spit out at the same time. This made Lorelai laugh. " When do I ever refuse coffee?" She shuffled her feet over to the counter and went to sit on one of the stools. Then she realized something. _Oh crap. Coffee means he has to make some. So now there's going to be even more silence while that stupid, slow coffee pot drips and drips. It's okay, calm down. _Lorelai hoped that her panic wasn't showing on her face. She didn't want Luke to notice that she was uncomfortable.

"So! We still need to pick out a color." Luke's voice was a little bit louder than usual.

"I thought you decided on blue."

"Ahh, yes. But which blue. There are about twenty-seven different shades of blue in this 'Book O Paint Chips'." Luke said, amused by his own joke.

"Book O Paint Chips? I didn't know you had the cheesiness in you."

"Well, don't judge a diner man by his flanel."

"Amen to that."

"So uhmm, how are things going with that boyfriend of yours?"

"You mean Max?" Lorelai asked, surprised by his question. She didn't know that Luke knew about him.

"Yeah, Max. Didn't know what his name was. How long's that been going on for?"

"Oh, it actually isn't going anymore. Complications, him being Rory's English teacher and all."

"Oh," Luke tried to seem surprised by Lorelai's answer, but the truth was he wasn't surprised at all. He new the whole Max and Lorelai story. He new about them getting caught kissing at Chilton, he knew about Lorelai wanting to break it off because she was afraid that Rory was getting attatched. He knew it all.

The thing that boosted Luke's confidence about there ever being a relationship with him and Lorelai was that if anything were to happen, Rory getting attatched wouldn't be a problem. They'd known eachother just as long as he'd known Lorelai. Attatchment wouldn't be a problem. This brought a slight smile to his face.

"Why do you ask?" Lorelai said, looking up at him, honestly curious to what his answer would be.

"Oh no reason really. You know, just.. wondering." Luke noticed he'd said that very unconvincingly. Okay, what was he supposed to do now? Was he supposed to profess his eternal love for her? _No, _he thought, _That may be going a little bit too fast. _

"So I guess while we're waiting for the coffee, we should finish with the floor." Lorelai said, getting up & pulling back the sleeves of her Charlie's Angels t-shirt.

Luke watched her as she got settled on the floor in what looked to him to be a horribly uncomfortable position. She seemed somewhat sad. Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned Max. He felt selfish for bringing up something painful for Lorelai, just to boost his own self-esteem. He wandered over to Lorelai and settled down next to her with his trusty rag in hand.

Lorelai felt Luke's hand brush up against the side of her leg and it sent shivers up her spine. What was she doing? She couldn't possibly let an accidental touch get to her head. She started to wonder why it had been almost twenty minutes and this salt and pepper mess still wasn't cleaned up. Then she realized that she'd been prolonging the whole thing. First just scrubbing the same spot, then taking a break to use the bathroom and for coffee. Was she trying to spend more alone time with Luke? No. That was crazy. Right?

Luke noticed a look of intense thought on Lorelai's face. "What are you thinking about?" He asked, thinking it couldn't hurt if she were thinking about him.

_What the hell? Just be honest. Maybe he can help you figure this out, _"Uhm, funny that you should ask." She bit her lip, cautioning herself of the consequenses of what she wanted to say next. "I was actually thinking about you."


	3. Diner Confessional

**Chapter Three: Diner Confessional**

"About me?" Luke hoped he hadn't heard her wrong. He also hoped she'd been thinking of him the way that he'd been thinking of her for the past several years.

"Yeah. About you. Sorry if that freaks you out."

_What the hell? _Luke thought to himself, _If she took a plunge, you should take one too. _"What about me?" Luke asked, guessing that was a plunge in itself.

Lorelai tried to gather her thoughts quickly. The last thing that she wanted was to sound like a jumbled mess to the man she possibly had feelings for. Possibly? Right? _Okay Lorelai, come on. You may not always be 100 honest with everyone else, but you need to be completely honest with yourself here. How do you feel about Luke? Yes, he's one of your best friends. And they say that the best relationships are based on friendship. So if anything were to happen, then maybe he could be the guy, as long as he doesn't wear that baseball cap and flanel on your wedding day. Maybe you couldn't screw this one up. Whoaaa there, you're getting ahead of yourself. You're not even sure if this feeling is mutual, whatever this feeling may be, and you're already planning your life together._

Lorelai started to realize that thinking was getting her nowhere other than some alternate reality in which her and Luke were now engaged. So she decided that maybe talking would help. She started off slowly, "It's actually not so clear to me. I'm confused by my own thoughts. That rarely happens."

"Well, of course it rarely happens. You are Lorelai Gilmore, otherwise known as Wonder Woman, and Wonder Woman never gets confused."

Lorelai chuckled. "Do you agree that the best relationships are the ones that involved friendship in the beginning?"

Luke pondered this for a moment. "I guess so. Do you?"

"I'm actually not sure."

"Well, why do you ask?" Luke was hoping that what she said next would be what he's been waiting to hear for a long time now.

"Because if that was true, we'd probably have the best relationship in the world," Lorelai thought a minute, "As a matter of fact, so would Sookie and I."

"That is if it's okay with Jackson. But I'm sure that if it were true, me and you, we'd be just fine."

"Yeah. In a hypothetical situation that is."

The smile on Luke's face slowly began to fade, "Yeah.. of course."

"But I mean, in a hypothetical situation, I should probably start dating you. That way I'd never screw up again. We'd be used to fighting, since we do it all of the time, and that wouldn't screw anything up, right?"

"Right. So we're soulmates? Hypothetically?"

"Hypothetical soulmates," Lorelai said, her voice a little shaky. She had no idea what she was saying.

"So exactly why is it that you're bringing all of this up?" Luke asked again, still waiting for the perfect answer.

"Well I wanted to know your opinion."

"On hypothetical relationships?"

"Well, yeah," Lorelai paused, "But not just that."

"What else then?" _This was it,_ he thought. She was going to say it. She was finally going to confess having feelings for him. He couldn't stand the anxiety.

"About us."

Okay, so that wasn't the **exact** confession he'd wanted, but it was progress. Only problem? Now he had to figure out what to say. He couldn't say all of the things that he's wanted to say all of these years. That would be too much to take in. Or maybe he could. Could he? _Okay. Most women like the whole fairytale dream come true situation. They love to hear how much a man wants to be with them and how much a man needs them. But I don't want her to know that I need her, even though I think I really do. So maybe I should just tell her that. Yeah, right? No! What the hell are you talking about? Crazy ass! You can't be too agressive or you might scare her off. Okay, maybe I should start talking before she thinks that I'm ignoring her._

Luke cleared his throat, still not sure of what to say. He decided to just go with it. "Us as a couple you mean?"

"Yes. Us together. You and me. Against the world."

"Well, I honestly think that we'd make a great team." _There, that wasn't so hard, was it? So now let her know some of the rest._

But before Luke could go on, Lorelai interrupted him. "Yeah, I guess we would. I mean, with my amazing wits and you with your.. well your impecable taste in flanel. We'd conquer the world."

Luke started to worry that Lorelai was taking this as a joke. He didn't know what to do. Should he play along? Or should he go on the honest path.

At the same instant that Luke began to doubt Lorelai's thoughts, Lorelai did the same. Was Luke just kidding? This wasn't helping her to clear her thoughts at all. How was she supposed to make sense of all of these thoughts if Luke was just fooling around? How was she supposed to tell if he even was? Something in the pit of her stomach wished that he was being serious. She decided that she had to set things straight, she had to try to figure out what Luke was thinking.

"So," she started, "You really think that I compare to Wonder Woman?"

_Come on Luke! She practically set this up for you. It's like she's in your head. Let her have it._

"Okay, so you really want to know?" All of a sudden Luke was energized and nothing was stopping him. Even if Lorelai didn't want to know, it was too late now. "To me, you _are_ Wonder Woman."

Luke stopped to think about what he'd just confessed. _Oh crap! That was too much. Damnit Luke Danes! What's your problem?_

But Luke started to calm down once he noticed the look on Lorelai's face. She had an expression that he'd never seen before. She seem shocked, but her eyes, those electric blue eyes that he'd always loved, seemed to light up. Those were the eyes that he'd always wanted to get lost in. He looked into them everyday, deeply, being able to determine her mood, just by a slight variation of color. Her eyes were so much a part of her personality, and now he was reponsible for tweaking them just a bit, and in an extremely positive way. Luke never knew such a feeling before in his life.

"What?" Lorelai's voice cracked. Had Luke really just said that? She'd always expected that he may have had a bit of a crush on her, but nothing like that. Nothing like Wonder Woman.

Before she could even finish her thought, Luke had swept her up into a kiss. A kiss so filled with passion that the second her lips touched Luke's, she no longer had doubts as to whether or not she had feelings for him. She knew. It felt so right. She knew. She started to think that she'd subconsciously known that Luke was the man for her all along, but she needed something to send a spark of assurance through her brain. She needed this. She'd needed him to kiss her for so long now. So long.


End file.
